Hex
Playing beguiling early music in response to our changing world
About Us
We are a flexible ensemble of early musicians, based here, there, and everywhere.'Upon a ground' is often a phrase found in early music. We take this literally in not just our playing, but the way in which we travel, reaching audiences over land and sea, and by two wheels wherever possible.We share old music in new ways, inspired by the experiences of journeying differently, and create new music in response to our changing world.
Our Musicians
Sarah Small
Jonathan Rees
Emily Ashton
Sam Stadlen
Lucia Capellaro
Sarah Small
Sarah is a viola da gamba player based in the UK, and founder of Hex. She first came across the instrument whilst studying recorder at the Royal College of Music and instantly fell in love with its beguiling sound.
Recent projects include Good Again?, a 10-week, 31 venue, 4,500km self-supported concert tour by bicycle around the UK, drawing attention to musicians’ unsustainable touring practices and the role of live music during a time of multiple crises.
As a committed environmentalist and passionate advocate for cycling, Sarah has been recognised in The Independent Climate 100 List and Cycling UK’s 100 Women in Cycling. Continuing to travel and tour almost exclusively by bicycle, she gives lecture recitals, workshops in schools, and concerts with programmes including original compositions responding to the environmental changes experienced on her travels.
Sarah performs and records with various ensembles across the UK and Europe and holds a Master of Performance with Distinction, having studied with Reiko Ichise in London and Hille Perl in Bremen, Germany, during which time she was generously supported by the Linda Hill Scholarship, the Robert McFadzean Whyte Award, the Countess of Munster Trust, and Help Musicians UK.
Emily Ashton
Emily Ashton is a baroque cellist and viol player, and has played with most of the UK’s leading period instrument ensembles, including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Dunedin Consort and Academy of Ancient Music. Emily studied music at Clare College, Cambridge and subsequently baroque cello and viola da gamba with Jonathan Manson at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2015 she joined the viol consort Fretwork, performing and recording with them extensively. Emily was a founder of ‘XR Baroque', a network of early music professionals who played at environmental protests, helped to shape Fretwork's sustainable travel policy, and has given talks and run workshops with school and University students about sustainability in the arts and musicians' roles and responsibilities in these times. She was interviewed on the podcast ‘Things Musicians Don’t Talk About’, discussing her arrests with Extinction Rebellion and her work drawing together environmental activism and music, and after giving up flying in 2019, was interviewed on BBC Radio about travelling over land as a musician.
Sam Stadlen
A viol player, cellist and musicologist, Sam has been a member of Fretwork since 2015, appearing regularly with the group around the world, including sold-out performances at Carnegie Hall. He also plays with viol consort Chelys, with whom he has recorded albums with Dame Emma Kirkby and Fieri Consort. With his Canadian trio with Michael Jarvis and Paul Luchkow he has released two albums of late-Eighteenth Century music by composers such as Giordani, Abel, Lates, and Kammel.
Sam is Professor of Viol Consorts at the Royal College of Music and has been an associate and guest lecturer at the University of York and the Royal Academy of Music. He holds a PhD in the influences of poetry and declamation on the pièces de viole in late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century France. Sam is also a filmmaker and regularly records and produces concert and promotional videos for ensembles and groups. His online ‘music-minus-one’ service, created during the covid pandemic, continues to thrive, serving hundreds of viol players around the world.
[samstadlen.co.uk]
Upcoming Projects
Lachrimae for the Land
Winter's Return
Upcoming Performances
10th October, 2026: Our Autumn
7.30pm at St John the Evangelist Church, Cambridge